The invention relates to a rock drill intended to be arranged maneuverable in relation to a feeding beam, which rock drill comprises a rotating apparatus and a hammering apparatus and a mounting frame for mounting the rotating apparatus and hammering apparatus, and which mounting frame comprises an axial support, whereby the mounting frame is arranged to receive the feed and recoil forces directed to the rock drill and to transmit them to the feeding beam and feeding equipment, and which mounting frame can be supported to the feeding beam by means of slide blocks arranged to the mounting frame.
The invention also relates to a mounting frame which is a part of a rock drill and which comprises means for connecting a rotating apparatus and hammering apparatus belonging to the rock drill, and to which mounting frame slide blocks can be arranged to fit the mounting frame and the entire rock drill maneuverably to the feeding beam.
In mining, rock drilling apparatuses are used, in which one or more booms are arranged on a movable platform and at the free ends of the booms, there is a feeding beam and a rock drill. In prior art solutions, one of which is presented later in FIG. 1, a rock drill is formed by connecting a rotating apparatus 2 and a hammering apparatus 3 into one entity by means of binding bolts 1 or by other means. This kind of a rock drill is usually connected with a bolted joint through lugs 4 in the jacket of the rock drill to a carriage 5 which can be moved along the longitudinal axis of the feeding beam 6 by means of feeding means, such as power transmission wires and hydraulic cylinders running them. The feeding movement of a rock drill is achieved by moving the carriage and the rock drill connected to it along the top surface of the feeding beam and supported by slide blocks 7 arranged to the carriage. Rock drilling produces extensive forces when the rock drill is, during drilling, fed against the rock and further when the impacts of the hammering apparatus reflect from the drilling object along the drill rod arrangement back to the rock drill. These forces create problems in the durability of the rock drill structures. Since present rock drills are made up of blocks mounted to each other with joint surfaces between them, small movement always occurs in the surfaces in spite of the mounting, causing wear and deformation in the surfaces. As a result of this, the use of the rock drill may need to be interrupted for maintenance even though the rotating apparatus or the hammering apparatus needs no repair. This causes thus extra production shutdowns and additional costs. Further, since the forces directed to the rock drill are transmitted through the jacket of the drill to the carriage, the jacket needs to be made massive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,079 discloses a rock drill whose body has cylindrical chambers. In this case, the hammering apparatus and rotating apparatus are cartridges which are locked inside the chamber by means of end covers. The cartridges must have a certain shape and dimensioning to fit into their chambers, to lock in place by means of the end covers and to function. In addition, the cartridges require chamber support to function. Typically, the cartridges also need exact positioning in the chamber so that the required pressure medium channels between the chamber and the cartridge connect to make the apparatus function.
The object of this invention is to provide a novel type of rock drill and a mounting frame for mounting the rock drill so as to avoid the problems occurring with the known solutions.
The rock drill of the invention is characterized in that at least the rotating apparatus or the hammering apparatus of the rock drill is a replaceable module and that the axial support has at least one joint surface to which the replaceable module can be mounted and correspondingly dismounted without dismantling the remaining structure of the drill.
Further, the mounting frame of the invention is characterized in that it comprises at least one joint surface to which the replaceable rotating apparatus and/or hammering apparatus module can be mounted.
The basic idea of the invention is that the rock drill comprises a rotating apparatus and a hammering apparatus, of which at least one is a replaceable module. A further idea is that the rock drill comprises a mounting frame to which the rotating apparatus and hammering apparatus are mounted so that the rotating apparatus, hammering apparatus and mounting frame together form the drill. The mounting frame comprises beams parallel to a feeding beam, to which slide blocks are fastened, and an axial support transverse to the beams, by means of which the rotating apparatus and hammering apparatus are mounted to the mounting frame. Forces for moving the drill are brought to the mounting frame and correspondingly, the mounting frame receives the forces directed from the drill rod to the drill and transmits them to the feeding equipment. Further, the basic idea of a preferred embodiment of the invention is that joint surfaces are formed on both sides of the platelike axial support for the rotating apparatus and correspondingly, for the hammering apparatus. Thus, both the rotating apparatus and the hammering apparatus can be easily replaceable modules. The basic idea of another preferred embodiment of the invention is that the body of the rotating apparatus is a part of the mounting frame. Then the axial support is made up of the jacket of the rotating apparatus and the joint surface at its back end, to which joint surface the hammering apparatus can be mounted.
The invention provides the advantage that by means of the mounting frame it is possible to control better than before the feed and recoil forces directed to the rock drill, since they are transmitted in an advantageous manner by means of the mounting frame directly to the feeding beam and to transmission means of the drill arranged to it. This helps avoid the damage and wear caused by the forces to the drill structures and the joint surfaces of the various blocks of the drill. In addition, the invention provides the advantage that it is no longer necessary to have a separate carriage between the feeding beam and the drill, but the rock drill can be arranged directly to the feeding beam owing to the mounting frame. Since the carriage is unnecessary, it also needs not to be manufactured. The structure becomes simpler and more endurable. A further advantage of the invention is that the mounting frame makes it possible to form a modular drill. This way, it is possible to conveniently change the hammering apparatus and/or the rotating apparatus to the drill by means of the mounting frame joint surface. Various rotating apparatuses and hammering apparatuses having different output and properties can then be combined with each other to form the best possible combination for each purpose. It is now possible to manufacture certain basic modules which can then be suitably combined into various applications. This way, manufacturing costs remain clearly lower than if a separate construction was always built for each application. Since it is also possible to quickly detach a defective module or one needing maintenance even at the drill site without dismantling the entire structure and to replace it with an operational module, servicing the drill becomes significantly easier. In prior art solutions, either the entire drill had to be replaced or it had to be dismantled for maintenance, whereas now, owing to the structure of the invention, the entire drill need not be detached or dismantled, but only the defective module is detached for maintenance. The service lives of the rotating apparatus and the hammering apparatus usually differ from each other due to a different structure and operating principle. Their service life is also affected by the use they are in. Thus, the rotating apparatus and the hammering apparatus do not necessarily become defective or otherwise require maintenance at the same time, and owing to the invention, it is possible to only take care of the module requiring repair. A defective, replaced module can then be serviced in better conditions and used again later on. This also helps avoid long maintenance shutdowns and the related costs, as the defective rock drill can now be quickly put back into production use. In summary, by means of the invention, it is possible to avoid problems caused by the feed and recoil forces directed to the drill, to provide a simpler structure without the carriage, to customize, owing to the modular structure, an effective rock drill for each purpose, and to create significant savings due to easier maintenance and repair work and shorter shutdowns.